tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12075548Sun, 20 Jul 2008 00:17:31 +0000http://inwhichourhero.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Keith)Blogger814125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12075548.post-9142618542428029520Sat, 19 Jul 2008 23:32:00 +00002008-07-19T17:16:21.159-07:00MoviesWall-E is the last of his kind, a trash collection robot left behind when Earth had become such an ecological nightmare that the human race was forced to abandon the planet. He spends his days stuffing garbage into his midsection and compacting it into tidy little cubes, which he piles up in heaps that are nearly as tall as the abandoned skyscrapers. He has developed a fascination with certain http://inwhichourhero.blogspot.com/2008/07/movies-wall-e-andrew-stanton-2008.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Keith)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12075548.post-5883529063134741062Thu, 17 Jul 2008 17:00:00 +00002008-07-17T10:00:01.177-07:00BooksAmy Gallup seemed to have such promise. Her first novels were published when she was in her 20s, and met with great critical success. The lack of corresponding commercial success, though, meant that the market for her work dried up. Now, 30 years later, she's become a misanthropic recluse, supporting herself by teaching night school writing classes at the local community college. The new class http://inwhichourhero.blogspot.com/2008/07/books-writing-class-jincy-willett-2008.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Keith)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12075548.post-7770973281458623905Wed, 16 Jul 2008 21:30:00 +00002008-07-16T14:42:50.238-07:00BooksRuth Berry is working on a biography of children's author E.A. Jones, who always claimed that her books were inspired by stories told to her by her son Jerry. Jerry is reluctant to be interviewed, as he has not been close to his mother, and does not like to talk about her. But when Ruth and Jerry are both approached by the same mysterious, menacing man, they begin to realize that there may be http://inwhichourhero.blogspot.com/2008/07/books-dark-cities-underground-lisa.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Keith)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12075548.post-4999449297338880177Fri, 11 Jul 2008 16:13:00 +00002008-07-11T09:34:14.891-07:00BooksThe mid-1960s weren't a happy time for Hollywood. The studios had become adept at making blandly prestigious pictures that audiences would go to see, but for which no one felt much enthusiasm. The lists of Best Picture nominees from the era are littered with the likes of Becket, Ship of Fools, and The Sand Pebbles. These weren't the money makers, though; "what paid studio bills were James Bond http://inwhichourhero.blogspot.com/2008/07/books-pictures-at-revolution-mark.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Keith)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12075548.post-6888736454950785244Thu, 03 Jul 2008 16:00:00 +00002008-07-03T09:00:00.304-07:00MoviesSharp casting does a lot to lift this one well above the average TV-to-movie adaptation. Steve Carell as Max, Anne Hathaway as 99, and Adam Arkin as the Chief are all just right for their roles; as are (in briefer appearances) Bill Murray as Agent 13 and Patrick Warburton as Hymie. Only Terence Stamp disappoints as Siegfried, playing the part a bit too straight and not quite getting the same http://inwhichourhero.blogspot.com/2008/07/movies-get-smart-peter-segal-2008.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Keith)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12075548.post-7945926254732558641Wed, 02 Jul 2008 17:53:00 +00002008-07-02T11:11:50.822-07:00BooksThird in the Amlingmeyer Brothers mystery series. One of the nice things about having protagonists who are itinerant cowboys / ranch hands / laborers is that Hockensmith gets to use a different setting for each installment in the series. Holmes on the Range took place on a ranch; On the Wrong Track found the brothers working as railroad detectives; and in The Black Dove, Gustav and Otto are in http://inwhichourhero.blogspot.com/2008/07/books-black-dove-steve-hockensmith-2008.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Keith)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12075548.post-1805229386457168244Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:40:00 +00002008-07-01T12:55:19.526-07:00MoviesYes, it's another slacker-with-a-dream story, and parts of it are a bit familiar, but the animation is gorgeous and the voice cast performs with great wit, carrying you through the weaker moments. Our hero is Po (voiced by Jack Black), a roly-poly (even by panda standards) goofoff who dreams of being a warrior and is eager to see the festivities at the Jade Temple. Master Oogway (Randall Duk Kimhttp://inwhichourhero.blogspot.com/2008/07/movies-kung-fu-panda-mark-osborne-john.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Keith)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12075548.post-5025950539065120430Fri, 27 Jun 2008 17:07:00 +00002008-06-27T10:27:24.809-07:00Like Stefan Fatsis' Word Freak and Mark Obmascik's The Big Year, Cheer gives us a look inside a subculture that outsiders may have never really been aware of. This time, it's college cheerleading. Cheerleading has become a full-fledged sport, one that makes just as many physical demands on its participants as football or basketball. It's one of the most dangerous sports, too, with an injury ratehttp://inwhichourhero.blogspot.com/2008/06/books-cheer-kate-torgovnick-2008.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Keith)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12075548.post-4748498448306530297Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:00:00 +00002008-06-27T10:07:06.521-07:00MoviesHattie McDaniel's Mammy is the moral center of Gone With the Wind; she is the wisest and most mature character in the movie. Even Rhett Butler understands how important it is for him to win Mammy's respect if he is to have any chance of winning Scarlett's heart. Even before the death of Ellen O'Hara, it's clear that in a very real sense, Mammy is far more of a mother to Scarlett. It is Mammy whohttp://inwhichourhero.blogspot.com/2008/06/movies-smackdown-1939-hattie-mcdaniel.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Keith)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12075548.post-5299515223671656433Tue, 24 Jun 2008 03:07:00 +00002008-06-23T20:34:40.167-07:00MoviesHow virtuous is Melanie Hamilton Wilkes? She's so virtuous that when she goes to work in a military hospital, her headgear is designed to look like a nun's wimple. She's so virtuous that her death scene is scored for angelic choir and the prominent sound of a harp. Alas, Melanie Hamilton Wilkes is so damned virtuous that even an actress as skilled as Olivia de Havilland can't make her anything http://inwhichourhero.blogspot.com/2008/06/movies-smackdown-1939-olivia-de.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Keith)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12075548.post-3860101099491076906Sat, 21 Jun 2008 21:21:00 +00002008-06-21T14:59:50.656-07:00MoviesAs is true of most men who've read Wuthering Heights, I did so only because it was forced upon me in high school. (Wuthering Heights and 17-year-old boys: Surely there is no greater possible mismatch of book and reader, and if there is a hell, countless English teachers deserve to be sent there for that reason alone.) William Wyler's film version of the novel at least has the advantage of being http://inwhichourhero.blogspot.com/2008/06/movies-smackdown-1939-geraldine.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Keith)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12075548.post-6130196686261643318Sun, 15 Jun 2008 23:37:00 +00002008-06-15T18:44:15.882-07:00MoviesI knew Ouspenskaya's name from crossword puzzles; there was a time when "Actress Ouspenskaya" was a common clue for "Maria." ("Actress Bello" has largely taken over these days.) But the name was all I knew until watching her performance as Grandmother Janou in Love Affair. The story is something of a Hollywood warhorse, having been remade twice, in 1957 (as An Affair to Remember) with Cary Granthttp://inwhichourhero.blogspot.com/2008/06/movies-smackdown-1939-maria-ouspenskaya.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Keith)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12075548.post-7042261495962251618Tue, 10 Jun 2008 00:44:00 +00002008-06-09T17:56:56.635-07:00BooksYet another marvelous journey into the offbeat corners of scientific research from Roach. The subject this time is "the curious coupling of science and sex." The expected names appear -- Kinsey, Masters & Johnson -- but we also learn about Marie Bonaparte (the great-grand-niece of Napoleon), who decided that the key to female orgasm was the distance between the clitoris and the vagina, and had http://inwhichourhero.blogspot.com/2008/06/books-bonk-mary-roach-2008.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Keith)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12075548.post-3215319999227310046Sun, 08 Jun 2008 03:47:00 +00002008-06-07T21:11:10.640-07:00MoviesHere's the hardest part of doing a Smackdown: You occasionally have to sit through a movie you really don't enjoy, and try to provide a fair evaluation of the nominated actress who's in that movie. This was one such occasion. Drums Along the Mohawk is not one of John Ford's better films; it's a slow, creaky Revolutionary War drama in which the most exciting moment is a foot chase, and even that http://inwhichourhero.blogspot.com/2008/06/movies-smackdown-1939-edna-may-oliver.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Keith)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12075548.post-1086994250200634517Sat, 07 Jun 2008 18:45:00 +00002008-06-27T10:50:21.884-07:00MoviesI'm delighted to have been invited to take part in another of StinkyLulu's monthly Supporting Actress Smackdowns, this time focusing on 1939. Over the next few weeks, you can look forward to comments on that year's nominees: Olivia de Haviland, Gone With the WindGeraldine Fitzgerald, Wuthering HeightsHattie McDaniel, Gone With the WindEdna May Oliver, Drums Along the MohawkMaria Ouspenskaya, Lovehttp://inwhichourhero.blogspot.com/2008/06/movies-supporting-actress-smackdown.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Keith)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12075548.post-468076873790812427Fri, 06 Jun 2008 01:10:00 +00002008-06-05T18:22:14.883-07:00BooksThis year's Edgar Award winner for Best Novel. Adam Chase returns to his North Carolina home after five years in New York City, during which time he has not been in contact with his family. They are the standard-issue Southern thriller family: abusive father; borderline alcoholic stepmother; and her children, a jock who won't grow up and a fragile ingenue with emotional problems. The plot is http://inwhichourhero.blogspot.com/2008/06/books-down-river-john-hart-2007.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Keith)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12075548.post-8888366225777484814Thu, 05 Jun 2008 01:18:00 +00002008-06-04T18:42:14.847-07:00BooksChicago politics are at the heart of Simon's charming, witty novel, which focuses on one stressful weekend in the life of an alderman. Sundaran "Sunny" Rupini represents Chicago's 48th Ward (of 50), and is also the vice-mayor. That's usually a ceremonial post, and Sunny's duties don't extend much beyond wielding the gavel during the mayor's bathroom breaks. But when the mayor is found dead in http://inwhichourhero.blogspot.com/2008/06/books-windy-city-scott-simon-2008.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Keith)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12075548.post-8897195178869834793Mon, 02 Jun 2008 04:16:00 +00002008-06-01T21:38:50.525-07:00BooksAfter three fine re-tellings of Biblical stories, Maine turns to more contemporary mythology with a re-imagining of a 1950s monster movie from the monster's point of view. Well, sort of. Maine's monster -- known as "K." -- isn't really intellectually advanced enough to possess anything as sophisticated as "point of view." And Maine's narrative voice acknowledges the limited viewpoint of his http://inwhichourhero.blogspot.com/2008/06/books-monster-1959-david-maine-2008.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Keith)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12075548.post-8655969851979751965Thu, 29 May 2008 10:00:00 +00002008-05-29T03:00:01.293-07:00The inimitable StinkyLulu is hosting Madeline Kahn Appreciation Day today, and there are sure to be all sorts of insightful and entertaining commemorations. So you should stop on by and check it out, why don'cha?http://inwhichourhero.blogspot.com/2008/05/inimitable-stinkylulu-is-hosting.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Keith)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12075548.post-7275926230692339439Wed, 21 May 2008 04:14:00 +00002008-05-20T21:40:22.785-07:00MusicTVIt's the second all-male final in Idol history, and going in, it looks to be the closest final since Clay & Ruben. But it won't look that way coming out. The rundown: We begin by establishing an uncomfortable boxing metaphor that will be clubbed into the ground all evening, as a boxing announcer introduces David "Sugarfoot" Cook and David "Baby Face" Archuleta, both wearing robes and boxing http://inwhichourhero.blogspot.com/2008/05/music-american-idol-08-finals.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Keith)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12075548.post-7579950772011232673Tue, 20 May 2008 19:01:00 +00002008-05-20T12:14:12.584-07:00BooksThird in the Garcia family series. Red Thunder gave us the adventures of Manny Garcia, one of the first men to land on Mars; Red Lightning was the story of his son, Ray Strickland-Garcia, a Martian (that's a human resident of Mars, not an alien indigenous to Mars) hotelier who gets caught up in the political intrigue after a (not entirely) natural disaster strikes Earth. For this volume, we http://inwhichourhero.blogspot.com/2008/05/books-rolling-thunder-john-varley-2008.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Keith)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12075548.post-187913232303304879Mon, 19 May 2008 19:01:00 +00002008-05-19T12:01:00.378-07:00MoviesThe title doesn't translate precisely into English, but "airport novel" would have something of the same flavor. Judith Ralitzer (Fanny Ardant) is an author of such novels -- thrillers with very little literary ambition --and we meet her in a police station where she is the prime suspect in a murder. She begins to tell the story of the events that led up to that death (claiming to be entirely http://inwhichourhero.blogspot.com/2008/05/movies-roman-de-gare-claude-lelouch.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Keith)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12075548.post-4678838376506947480Sun, 18 May 2008 22:19:00 +00002008-05-18T15:35:42.831-07:00MusicTVAnd so, as expected for the last month or so, we're headed into the Battle of the Davids. My hunch is that the Official American Idol Anthem will decide the winner. The Anthem is always a gooey inspirational ballad, and that has been David Archuleta's specialty this year. David Cook won't struggle with the song as badly as Blake did last year -- he's a much better singer than Blake was -- but http://inwhichourhero.blogspot.com/2008/05/music-american-idol-08-end-of-year.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Keith)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12075548.post-5280017049546528282Wed, 14 May 2008 19:01:00 +00002008-05-14T12:01:01.896-07:00MoviesHelen Hunt is star, producer, director, and co-writer of this movie, adapted from Elinor Lipman's novel. Hunt plays April Epner, a woman in her late 30s who suddenly finds her life falling apart. She's been dumped by nebbishy husband Ben (Matthew Broderick); her beloved mother Trudy (Lynn Cohen) has just died; and local TV celebrity Bernice (Bette Midler) has just revealed that she is April's http://inwhichourhero.blogspot.com/2008/05/movies-then-she-found-me-helen-hunt.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Keith)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12075548.post-74986562768184317Wed, 14 May 2008 04:07:00 +00002008-05-13T21:29:28.537-07:00MusicTVYou'd think that once we were down to the final three, we could maybe count on getting at least one really exciting or interesting or memorable performance out of the evening. But no, we get a sadly lackluster evening of forgettable blandness. The rundown: Round 1: Judges' choice David A, "And So It Goes," chosen by Paula -- The a cappella opening is impressive, and all of the notes throughouthttp://inwhichourhero.blogspot.com/2008/05/music-american-idol-08-choice-night.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Keith)